Traditional aircraft manufacturing methods and designs are limited by engineering constraints, such as limitations imposed by the widespread use of metals such as aluminum in the airframe structure. For example, the physical properties of aluminum generally require that complex structures be assembled from a plurality of distinct aluminum components that are bolted or otherwise coupled to one another. As a more specific example, the formability of components such as aluminum plates, sheets, and extrusions may require that a traditional wing-to-fuselage joint in a commercial aircraft be a complex structure formed from a plurality of distinct components coupled together. Such a complex design may require using rivets, fasteners, and fittings that concentrate and resolve loads within localized areas. By contrast, modern aircraft manufacturing may employ the use of composite materials that may be formed into continuous, unitary structures with complex contours and highly tailored structural properties. However, such composite materials may present engineering and manufacturing difficulties when incorporated into traditional airframe designs optimized for aluminum construction.